‘Uncle Phil’ Featured As Alpha In Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Reboot

Bel-Air – the new Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot, which premiered on Feb. 13, 2022, depicts its Uncle Phil character as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. One of the prominent scenes highlighted in its trailer features the character stepping with Fraternity members during a charity benefit.

In the original sitcom, the character, portrayed by James Avery, was a member of a fictitious fraternity. In the reimagined version, producers wanted to shine a light on HBCUs and HBCU culture.

“We reached out to the Alpha’s leadership with our request. They requested to see the script and we did something you NEVER do in film, we let them read the script,” says Executive Producer Rasheed Newsom. “They only had one show note – instead of having the Alphas play dominoes, leadership requested they play chess. We happily obliged.”

The actor, who currently portrays Uncle Phil, Adrian Holmes, is not a member of a Greek organization, and does not appear in Fraternity paraphernalia, but steps with actual members in one of the scenes. He explains that a choreographer and Alpha Brothers taught him the steps.

“I had one day to learn all the new steps, like that day. I’m just grateful that I was able to learn it.” Holmes says the biggest takeaway, next time wear gels in his shoes. “I had on dress shoes that were flat. By the end of all the takes (like 15), my knees were sore for two weeks.”

Newsom says the scene was powerful for him. “I was standing off camera crying behind the monitor because I don’t remember the last time, I’d seen that many Black men in a scene and there was no crime, there was no violence.”

Western Regional Vice President Brother Wayne Kimball, Jr. was also present during the taping of the scene.

The new series features an ensemble cast that introduces Jabari Banks as Will and a creative team that includes Morgan Cooper, who serves as director, co-writer, and executive producer, and co-showrunners and executive producers T.J. Brady and Rasheed Newson. S